The Ancestor's Wrath
by Okkomuri
Summary: Several years after Momoshiki's defeat, a new Ōtsutsuki arrives bringing unforeseen levels of power. But with these threats come the chance of an alliance, despite the many risks and change that would require... Will the shinobi world ever be free of their ancestor's grip, or is this simply fate manifested? (AU)
1. Chapter One

_Author's Notes:_

_Hello there! This story is set in an AU, so I'm going to place some information here to set the foundation for it._

'_Eidolon' means a ghost, phantom, or spirit of an idol or an idealized person. This links to the concept of ancestor worship/spirit guides/drawing power from ancestors and links with some canon themes found within the Narutoverse. (Specifically evidenced by the Ōtsutsuki 'passing on of power' and the descendants of Hamura in "The Last: Naruto the Movie", and we could go further with specific types of kekkei genkei, and the importance of genetics for shinobi in general but… I'll stop while I'm ahead.)_

_The Ōtsutsuki in this story have a different history than what is found canonically, being that there is an internal conflict among their people on a massive scale, and that is what first forced Kaguya away from her people. This story does not follow the canon that she was specifically sent to the world that the series takes place on, but rather was tracked down and essentially hunted after stealing a nascent God Tree/seed. Furthermore, the corruption/evilness of _Ō_tsutsuki individuals does not represent the norm in their society, but is part of this ongoing internal conflict/war that also affects many other worlds and peoples._

_This story begins a few years after the events of "Boruto: Naruto the Movie"/Boruto episode 65, and follows all canon up to that point, as well as all canon up to and through manga 37. In this AU, both Naruto and Sasuke were able to flee from Jigen, who then went silent, and the Kara organization also became much less active and more secretive, though hints of their activities and influence could be found from time to time._

_As such, Kawaki has remained in Konoha and trust difficulties did arise from time to time, but overall, there has been little conflict. In this AU, Boruto and Kawaki's Karma seals do not resonate as strongly as shown in following chapters of the manga, meaning significantly more time has to pass before either's Karma seal can develop as shown in the canon. Lastly, this AU has Toneri rescued from whatever Urashiki originally did to him, and in this AU that happened following manga chapter 37. His memories of the place that he was sent are cloudy and fragmented at best, granting no new insights for the time being. In addition, much of his previous memories are missing as well, though his newfound will to protect the world curiously remains. The descendant of Hamura has taken to reinforcing the defenses within the moon, and hiding himself more securely while providing some feedback/oversight to the inhabitants of earth._

_..._

* * *

Chapter One

This was it… the world she'd tracked them to, after so much time and effort. There was no mistaking their initial mess, though the harvest here had occurred several hundred years ago. The cracked wasteland showed significant signs of battle, dust and debris hung as if her foes had returned to this already exhausted planet only to face off against… who? '_The Tree's been felled,_' Yua recognized that fact from orbit.

She hadn't bothered to enter the atmosphere, as it wasn't necessary. Even from a distance, safe in the Eidolon as she was, the Ōtsutsuki grimaced in disgust at the expansive, desolate landscape below.

There were no signs or trails showing that another Eidolon or vessel had visited, so the possibility that one was to blame for this extra destruction was easy to rule out. The only other option would be a noble, but who was left among them that could oppose the enemy alone?

'_No,_' Yua mused, '_that can't be the case._' The trouble was that nothing else made sense.

Her hand flicked forward, adjusting the sensory equipment of her Eidolon as she pushed the thing forward, closer to the planet – in-depth scans of this kind put her at a momentary risk, but the data came back within the fraction of a breath.

Yua's empty brows shot up, "What!?"

The data suggested residual signatures of chakra from a Rinnegan's warping ability. '_Impossible,_' the royals were dead. That, or missing – one had gotten spaced, the other abducted and not seen nor heard of for millennia. The only remaining, their queen as it was, would never have put herself at risk by coming to this world – she wouldn't even be able to do that if she'd wanted to. The royal guard was far too cautious… Besides, it was her highness who'd demanded of Yua to track these traitors in the first place.

The woman clicked her tongue in agitation, ran the scan again, and received the same report. Yua checked and rechecked the equipment, then scoured the raw information herself – still, the same hard and stubborn fact stared back at her from the glow of the digital interface before her.

'_Well…perhaps it's not _too_ impossible._' She'd be taking a big risk. Following this lead could send her straight to the one true enemy they all feared… or, it could lead her to whatever was left after all this time of their missing princess. Yua swallowed hard, and fired the Eidolon's thrusters – now entering the atmosphere to get a closer look at that residual chakra, the very thin traces of it left hanging in the air, so that the machine-organism could deduce exactly where its user had come from.

* * *

"That's not what I meant by it," the Seventh stated, a bit firmly. His son had been a little more difficult lately, and it was a fact that neither he nor Sasuke missed. Their wives just found it funny, _amusing_. For the time being. "Yeah, yeah," the drawled-out response with both arms up over his head came back, though Boruto wasn't being disrespectful. He knew well enough by now... and things had changed, very much so.

The team's report ended, and Naruto was left to his quiet office space once again – those moments were few and far between. The Hokage stretched his own arms up over his head, arching his back too. These long days had their disadvantages.

A tone emitted from the laptop on his desk, it was a message from the shinobi Alliance – marked urgent. Naruto opened it, and the attached picture file. He didn't quite understand what he was looking at, until he downloaded and read Toneri's message – that was when his heart skipped a beat.

The Hokage stood, exited his office, and asked the aide where Sasuke was.

"Is everything alright, Hokage-sama?" Naruto rarely ever left his office in the middle of the day, and he wouldn't be asking about the Uchiha – who was about to leave later that afternoon – if it weren't urgent. The aide's eyes also told him everything he needed to know – they all feared a repeat of that event several years ago, but no one had the gall to talk about it right ain the present moment.

They both knew however, what could be the case.

"For now," Naruto replied, "Get Anbu on alert-" "Should I have them escort your son?"

The question had him pause, "No, just keep an eye on things-" he wasn't going to initiate too much concern, the document read that the object had been motionless for over half an hour. "I'll be back soon," he added, with a small smile that suggested this may not become a problem at all.

He hoped that would be the case.

* * *

"How long has it been there?" Chojuro asked, "About forty-five minutes now," came the reply. They were in a conference call, complete with video. Though, that didn't do anything for Toneri's end.

"We still have the cannon," Darui mentioned – the cannon his predecessor had used to blast away lunar debris over a decade earlier. "It's outside of your firing range," Toneri corrected, "If it comes any closer-" the Raikage asserted over him – "we'll use it."

A brief silence took over the room, before the Kazekage broke it, "Have you learned anything about its makeup? Has there been an attempt in communication?"

"Nothing has been received, and we haven't sent any communications as of yet-" that may or may not put the world, or the moon, at risk- "and our scans are showing… mixed results." "Define 'mixed'," Kurotsuchi prompted, and a haze of data readouts appeared in the holographic projection before Naruto.

"It seems to contain both organic and inorganic compounds," Toneri began, "and while it's obvious that the object has machine components, the data also suggests signs of biological life-" "You're saying it's some kind of cyborg?"

"That would appear to be the case," Toneri affirmed Sasuke's question.

* * *

'_Signs of life… civilization,_' Yua wasn't surprised by that. What she was surprised by, was that the civilization was not of her own people. '_The hells is going on here!?_' She was certain that there'd been an error, that she'd stumbled onto the wrong coordinates. That, or she'd be needing backup if one of their own was being harbored here – enemy or not. A warning signal flashed before her eyes, this planet had a moon – a shield world, to be precise – and it was attempting to get a read on her Eidolon. '_Good luck,_' she positioned it a bit further away, within a few minutes the shield world would disappear around the curve of the planet.

Another warning flashed – they had anti-orbital capabilities. '_So you do have teeth,_' Yua was glad that these people weren't incapable, it was a welcomed change. Even so, she needed to be cautious – the Eidolon drew back a bit farther, still gradually disappearing from the moon's range.

* * *

It had moved enough that Toneri's scans wouldn't work, but not close enough for Darui to open fire. They were able to get more pictures of it, in fact Toneri had gotten some that were closer, and much more detailed. The thing was massive – 2.5 kilometers tall, and shaped like a tapering diamond: its deepest point was a bit over 1.3 kilometers by 0.9 wide, and the shallowest tip – pointing towards the surface – was around half a kilometer deep by just over a third wide. Despite its shape, the luster was far more pearlescent than anything; the coloring like smooth, polished, blank moonstone.

Suddenly, the object halted its descent over the horizon – a flash of light emitted from it, and Toneri's comm-link went dark. "Damnit!" Darui hesitated for a moment before ordering the cannon to aim. Apparently, he wasn't going to take any chances and had already positioned and charged the thing.

Some argument broke out, though Toneri's end came back online before it could really escalate – "I'm fine, we're okay." They hadn't sustained any damage, but the thing had simply wanted to put them in the dark for a moment, it seemed. "It's gone…" The object had disappeared. That also meant the Raikage couldn't try to blast the thing out of the sky.

They had no idea where it'd gone. Discussion went around, and a jounin approached the Kazekage a couple minutes later, whispering something in his ear – it'd been sighted south-southwest of the Wind Country, rapidly approaching the southern sea. Gaara reported this – it seemed the object truly had momentarily 'disappeared' – literally, as nobody had noticed its rapid descent into the atmosphere. There'd been reports of noise, but the object had been spotted after that, not at the same time.

They decided to link up via radio to the watchtower site; reports stated that the smoothed, opalescent form rushed by overhead, air whipping along after it. The thinner end was pointed forward, with the thicker end behind and pointing skyward. There was no emission, physical or sensed via chakra, from the object. It was directed towards Kohohagakure.

Naruto grimaced – this was exactly what they _didn't_ want. Sasuke moved, "I'll get our team," he meant the kids and the adults, and Naruto nodded as his friend disappeared from sight. "Get the village to safety," he commanded Shikamaru, before getting ready to step out of the room – "Naruto!" The Kazekage's voice, "Stay safe," the blonde affirmed him, "Yeah, I will!"

* * *

It'd stopped miles away from Konoha, hovering beyond a hilled region so that the thing remained out of sight and just out of reach from the distant cannon's massive firing range.

"Well, how curious," Yua spoke, "I hadn't been expecting to find you here." Another Eidolon… though this one, had been divvied up something horrible. And it was clearly not in good condition – it'd been corrupted, or at least a significant portion of it had been. The thing seemed to be in long-term stasis, its roots still deeply intertwined within the planet's crust. Due to its extensive damages, Yua couldn't properly identify who it had belonged to. Regardless, the aura of corruption had a sort of… background effect over the majority of the planet. '_Amusura, get me a read on the planet's veins,_' she commanded her own Eidolon telepathically, '_And I want to know what to expect from these people._'

The being's findings would surprise her yet again.

* * *

Sasuke didn't want to wait. Nobody did.

The Land of Tea, which the thing was halted over, would certainly take action. Moreover, people in the surrounding area may attack or provoke the thing – they did not want that to happen if it could be helped.

The other Kage were asked to arrive in Konoha – the old teleportation seals they'd all set up a long time ago were reactivated to this end. Sasuke then was able to warp everyone over, it was much quicker than trying to physically travel there. '_Still,_' the Uchiha thought to himself, '_that sudden speed it moved with…_'

The object was obviously designed for spaceflight. This conflicted with Toneri's claim, about it being 'alive' – how could anything survive the vacuum and rigors of space? Even with mechanic or scientific aid, they shouldn't have been able to detect signs of life from that far away. This left Sasuke wondering if, perhaps, this didn't have anything to do with the Ōtsutsuki at all.

Of course, they didn't know that – they just knew the risk if they didn't behave as if it did.

* * *

The warp appeared – not too far beyond the hill Amusura was hiding behind. '_So you came out…!_' Yua was curious, perhaps excited even – if this were what she hoped, _so much_ could change for the better. It was clear these people weren't the enemy she was fearing, but perhaps they'd harbored one of her own? She still needed to be careful, '_They may be harboring an enemy, after all,_' experience had taught her the better part of caution. Plenty of it.

The pair – Eidolon and Partner – waited. Finally, she tracked chakra signatures moving to do reconnaissance – one of them held a division of the other Eidolon. '_Hmm_,' Yua wondered as to its functionality, and about the parent's state.

'_What do you think, Amusura? Shall we continue waiting?_' They hadn't attempted to communicate. '_Sending a message may provoke an undesirable effect,_' the Eidolon responded, '_Let us see what they do,_' it was a good measure to assess the people's general response and potential knowledge base by. And so, they waited.

* * *

"Whatever this is, it must know that the cannon is on the other side of that hill," the range would be very difficult to land a shot from, but _technically_, it could happen. Following some discussion, they'd tried to send a radio signal to the object, but received no response.

"I don't like it," Kurotsuchi commented, "Why come all this way just to float there?"

They took action – the Land of Tea's residents and government were getting more trigger-ready by the minute, despite being glad to have international aid in this moment of crisis. Regardless, they needed to get this thing out of there or risk an international incident.

Sasuke manifested his fullest Susano'o, encasing that around Kurama – it was more than enough to get the bijuu off the ground. They didn't know if revealing him would prompt this thing to respond – if they might try to harvest the energy – and so the others had surrounded the object before the Uchiha and Uzumaki took action.

Sand rose from the earth; while Kurotsuchi worked with the Kazekage to prepare a very specialized sealing technique. Meanwhile, Darui and Chojuro readied their own attack – though they didn't get a chance to release it due to the blinding light the thing emitted.

* * *

Amusura shouted in Yua's mind – it'd been truly surprised by the appearance of both a physical manifestation of a _portion_ of another Eidolon, which was confusing enough to her in the least; but that coupled with a full Regalia? The being shot backwards, apart from Yua's will, only to have its front-end portion and belly encased in sand and some form of sealing technique.

'_You little-!_' Yua directed Amusura to pulse the sand and chakra off itself – in its current form, that was possible. It would also blind their attackers for a few moments, enabling Amusura to elevate itself beyond their reach. An explosion and shaking rocked the Eidolon, and Yua within it, as some form of explosive coupled with lightning-release struck and detonated on Amusura's side, near her narrowest point.

The damage was completely negated, barely.

High enough that Amusura would be able to effectively dodge their ranged attacks – though she was careful to position the being so that it wasn't at risk from that AA-gun off in the far distance; Yua cut into their radio lines: she'd been listening, and had deduced the language. "Is this how you treat all of your guests?" She held Amusura's position there, waiting to see if they'd bother to respond – maybe the inhabitants believed she might attack. '_So ignorant,_' the Ōtsutsuki thought bitterly for a moment, before not completely purging the line of thought from her mind. "You'll notice I haven't returned the favor," that was stupid. She shouldn't have said that… But Yua was not an emissary, and the many long years of this war had taken their effect on her.

There were a few moments of silence, before they sent another signal directed to Amusura again, "Who are you and why have you come here?" In the time it took them to ask that, Yua had gained a better picture of just _who_ had used the Rinnegan's warping ability. '_He's a native…?_' This kept getting stranger and stranger. Of all the races their people had interacted with over the millennia, through countless generations; none had ever been capable of bearing the Rinnegan. Not one. But here it was, staring right back at her – or rather, right back at the lens through which Amusura was using.

Yua formulated her words, "I am an agent investigating reports of conflict on a particular world," she began, "A world which I am sure at least _one_ of you has visited before." That should be enough to make it clear to them… These people had chakra after all. Yua gave only a moment's pause before her question, "Where did you get your chakra from?" She attempted to use a non-confrontational tone, an inquisitive one. Vocal inflection seemed to take on a different importance in communicating among these people than it did with her own.

Another pause… "Are you an Ōtsutsuki?" There – they did know! They knew of her people… whether that was due to an enemy, or if some noble or even a royal had passed through here, she couldn't know for sure. '_Considering…_' They still hadn't answered her question, and these people were clearly on the defensive as it was. She couldn't possibly guess what they did and did not know, and so Yua decided to play a different card. "It is clear that you don't understand the nature of our war which has affected your world," she began, hoping to play on that even if they did know _of_ it, that they'd understand that the war was much bigger than anything they might _think_ they understand. "I am an Ōtsutsuki, and I don't know what your previous experiences with our people have been-" this was where things could get difficult – "but I can tell you what I do know-" her words were interrupted, "In exchange for what?" There seemed to be some commotion down below, but Amusura couldn't get a clear picture or read on it. Yua kept that cannon in mind, "For you to answer my question," if she could at least find out if they'd been affected by the enemy or not, that was the most important thing – the _one_ thing Yua needed to take back with her.

* * *

"How couldn't she know…?" Darui spoke under his breath, the others weren't impressed nor convinced, either. "To travel here investigating you, Sasuke, and then only to want to know about our chakra?" Kurotsuchi scoffed, "I don't buy it. And after all this time..." Above them, Naruto and the Rinnegan-bearer hovered, "I don't like this, either," the blonde admitted before responding to the intruder, "You're in our territory," he began, "We don't have to answer you!"

The object tilted a bit, "Fine," they didn't know its capabilities, or why it had just moved – Darui and Chojuro decided not to wait. They'd had their combo-attack readied again for some time now, and as soon as the distant thing moved along with that tone from its occupant, they let it fly – the speed was grossly increased thanks to the time the Raikage had to charge it up.

Their attack detonated and the object rocked a bit in midair, a shout started in their ears but was cut off before it ended – the thing began to slowly plummet, before increasing in the speed of its fall. As it did, the shape also began to morph and shift; metal and flesh undulating in various directions and forms before it slammed into the sea just over a mile out.

The Five tore off after it, approaching the shore along with a host of other shinobi and the few brave soldiers from the surrounding area. "Get out of here!" They were warned, as a massive, reflective obsidian metal broke the surface. The thing shone briefly and changed color to a pale, muted white lined with sections of alternating grays and darker tints - the mostly curved patterns were not anything they were familiar with. This shape continued to rise, as the Five Kage and regiment of Alliance shinobi waited to see just what they were up against – whatever this was, it was in the form of a person.

* * *

Once Amusura had stood, Rika was fully back in control – she'd been shocked by the sudden damage and subsequent fall. '_It was only because they'd managed…_' Rika realized her mistake, waiting too long and not thinking to check on the communicator's offensive capabilities during that small commotion. '_What a dirty trick,_' she fumed for a moment, but set that aside as it was obvious – it must have been – that their prior experiences were exclusively with the enemy. "How unfortunate," their chakra had been gained through twisted means, after all.

This world would be harvested someday.

Another warning flashed – Amusura had fallen within range of that cannon! She'd noticed it too late.

* * *

It was a solid hit – smack in the left temple of the things' head.

The force took it off a foot, and it swayed for a moment before regaining balance. This new 'Juubi', armored and tailless as it was, hunkered down to avoid getting hit again. A noise emanated from it, some kind of shrill bark or shriek, that had everyone within several miles of the shore pressing their hands to their heads. "We are _not_ your enemy!" The radio hack forced its way through again, "Don't make me retaliate…" The tone was now, clearly, a threat. Even so, the massive humanoid remained, motionless, though faint cracking could be seen in the casing of its helm.


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Yua hadn't been given proper time to evaluate their response – the circuits for an alarm tone had barely registered before Amusura took preemptive evasive action. Skilled and highly trained she may be, Yua's processing speed could never match that of her charge. Within several meters, a long, solid black rod sped by the Eidolon's right cheek. Several more approached, and in a fraction of milliseconds the superior being had determined that avoiding ecological damages was not an option.

Amusura jumped and twisted, orienting itself out of harm's way and momentarily risking the firing range of that AA cannon – though it already knew there was no charge ready. Massive waves rose and rocked the inlet, forcing the native sentient life back. Several saltwater-dwelling organisms were outright killed, the twisting forces caused by Amusura's sudden actions and changes in the tides and currents too much for them to bear.

Immediately, Yua's focus was on three things: one, there were 4.2 seconds left until full ATF recharge. Two: identifying the location, direction, and vectors of attack origin. Lastly, keeping awareness on the little ones – particularly those two with the full Regalia and the Eidolon division. Strange… that these people had determined to use such abilities, stolen and impaired as they were, in conjunction with one another.

In other circumstances, Amusura would likely have made some dry, curt comment. But connected as they were, instead Yua became suddenly aware of one thing: the sinking sensation and deep, existential horror caused by knowing just _what_ their attacker was. Time seemed to slow as Yua's focus sharpened, shorter breaths loud as her eyes found the feedback from her granted Eidolon's cameras: _black eyes_.

* * *

The sudden motion was unexpected, but it didn't take long for the Kage and the Uchiha to identify just what had caused the tailless, armored Juubi to act out: Jigen. The enemy had appeared through his version of a yomotsu hirasaka, immediately taking on the new arrival with no concern or hesitation. By this time, news agencies and curious civilians had been observing from afar, but now most were in the process of fleeing to even greater distances.

"_Teme…_" Naruto exhaled with a scowl, the Kara leader had been MIA since his friend's discovery of their little big secret a few months ago. Repositioning to a more secure area while assessing the situation and their options, the shinobi world leaders practically held their breath, anticipating the worst possibilities that Jigen might actually be capable of defeating this 'armored Juubi', that Karma may reveal its true purpose, that Urashiki may reappear, and so on. The sensation of collective apprehension was palpable, and the armored Juubi remained still for just a moment before seeming to slightly _shudder_ as its muscles just so barely, audibly, tensed.

* * *

'_Let me scream,_' Amusura prompted, '_No, do that and you'll blow their lungs out._' The natives were too close… the sudden change in air pressure would kill them instantly, despite that the strength of that blow that would also be enough to stun their new attacker. The Eidolon's slight irritation was stifled and brought under control, even as a part of it considered the sensibility of such precautions given their current threat.

A hushed scoff escaped from the enemy's lips, complete with a smirk – it was enough to rile the Eidolon, this one had always been a hothead for such abominations. '_Calm,_' Yua directed, keeping close watch on the enemy's movements. Another volley – Amusura shifted and twisted out of reach, as the enemy rushed and proceeded to cut the distance between them by over half.

At the same time, the full-Regalia-and-Eidolon-division combo released several underdeveloped inverted-charge ionization bombs as well as a potent black lightning ranged attack. These weren't directed within absorption range of the enemy, but rather the latter acted to arc and detonate each bomb in order to slow it down.

'_Good,_' they weren't fully unaware – though it also raised questions in Yua's mind as to what in the hells was really going on with this world after all.

The enemy shifted, raining chakra disruptor rods upon the little ones, their scale suddenly increasing once near enough to them. Amusura pulsed an interference pattern in the distance between them, knocking the objects from their intended path and averting potential damage to the natives. There seemed to be several others capable of defending themselves, but they were outmatched - in truth, even Amusura was under significant threat here. Utilizing his abominable strength, the foe dialed back the timelapse of his initial attack, rerouting the rods into the interference pattern and thus scattering them. The monster turned again, leaving itself open to the in-flight pair's attack, but with a clear shot at Amusura. The ebony shards sped forward, and impacted upon a shield wall of glowing iridescence.

* * *

A soft, electrical _thud_ sounded when the chakra disruptor rods hit it, solid light that was not born of chakra acting as a defensive measure. The thing glowed and radiated, its tone was soft and the colors slightly muted, but the aura it gave off was intense. A low, whirring hum sounded deep in their ears, it's intensity and pitch rising sharply until nearly inaudible, and a crashing **BOOM** followed. The noise rattled in their minds, mountains of air speeding into them and pushing the joining of Sasuke's Susano'o and Naruto's Bijuu mode away, and downward.

Jigen had been flung too, they'd later confirm, only to reestablish himself in space and time as unaffected.

The impacts had the world leaders pushed far and wide, narrowly escaping with their lives. In the last few moments that he was in their view, Jigen's form had additional straight-edged, painted columns patterned across his skin, different even from what they'd seen before. And here again, the telltale horn of an unnamed Otsutsuki manifested over him.

* * *

As the blinding light and rushing wind faded, a scene revealed itself to the horror of the shinobi who laid eyes upon it: the tailless, armored Juubi's helm had partly fallen off, damaged beyond repair. Over half its face was now revealed, a monstrous tan-skinned humanoid, this time with a pair of eyes marked deep emerald with flecks of gold, a single dark ring set within the iris, and a trio of points upon it. The vegetation and land surrounding much of the inlet had been stripped away by the sheer wind forces if not outright flattened, while roiling waves rocked the shoreline and a cacophony of sound rose as birds and other surviving wildlife fled the immediate area. There was a slight increase in the temperature and a humidity filling the air, pushing on the senses of those in the surrounding land.

The being snarled, Jigen's position was close - too close.

Time seemed to slow, even to nearly stop, as the tailless giant opened it's mouth, the clear sensation of chakra drawing and pooling towards it. In the very next second of realization, the Kara leader was suddenly gone - simply missing. At first, the shinobi witnessing this considered that he'd simply 'rewound' time again, however the noise that followed - deeply reminiscent of Kaguya's timespace manipulations involving entire dimensions - shuddered through them as it passed, and the world changed once again.


End file.
